The contribution of qualitative behavioural assessment to appraisal of livestock welfare

Animal welfare is increasingly important for the Australian livestock industries, to maintain social licence to practice as well as ensuring market share overseas. Improvement of animal welfare in the livestock industries requires several important key steps. Paramount among these, objective measures are needed for welfare assessment that will enable comparison and contrast of welfare implications of husbandry procedures or housing options. Such measures need to be versatile (can be applied under a wide range of on- and off-farm situations), relevant (reveal aspects of the animal’s affective or physiological state that is relevant to their welfare), reliable (can be repeated with confidence in the results), relatively economic to apply, and they need to have broad acceptance by all stakeholders. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) is an integrated measure that characterises behaviour as a dynamic, expressive body language. QBA is a versatile tool requiring little specialist equipment suiting application to in situ assessments that enables comparative, hypothesis-driven evaluation of various industry-relevant practices. QBA is being increasingly used as part of animal welfare assessments in Europe, and although most other welfare assessment methods record ‘problems’ (e.g. lameness, injury scores, and so on), QBA can capture positive aspects of animal welfare (e.g. positively engaged with their environment, playfulness). In this viewpoint, we review the outcomes of recent QBA studies and discuss the potential application of QBA, in combination with other methods, as a welfare assessment tool for the Australian livestock industries

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Impact of sea transport on animal welfare: Australian case studies (sea transport of sheep and cattle)

Cattle and sheep are exported from Australia by sea and form a significant market for Australian animals. For instance, in both 2006 and 2007 over half a million cattle were exported by sea from Australia, with the majority travelling the short journey to Indonesia. Other destinations included other Asian countries and the Middle East; about one tenth of the cattle travelled the “long haul” voyages to the Middle East and North Africa (MLA – Livestock Export Market Outlook Reports Dec 07). There are considerably more sheep transported by sea from Australia, with 3-4 million sent in both 2006 and 2007, the majority of these travelling to the Middle East and North Africa. (MLA – Livestock Export Market Outlook Reports Dec 07). A number of factors have been identified as impacting on the welfare of animals transported by sea. Norris et al. (2003) identified heat stress as a major cause of reduced welfare and increased mortality of cattle transported by sea, and as an important cause of increased mortality of sheep during periods of extreme hot, humid conditions (Norris and Norman 2002). These findings led to research into the physiology of heat stress in cattle and sheep, with a view to finding ways to ameliorate the effects on the animals, such as the provision of electrolytes. In conjunction with this work, a Heat Stress Risk Management model was developed (Stacey 2003), which used all available data on ships, weather conditions, voyages, and animal factors such as heat stress thresholds for different classes of animals and stocking rate to determine and therefore reduce the risk of a heat stress incident. The heat stress threshold was determined as the prevailing wet bulb temperature at which the animal’s core body temperature was 0.5 °C above what it would normally be, and climate room work was conducted to identify that threshold for various classes of animals commonly transported by sea

Impact of sea transport on animal welfare: Assessing the welfare and feeding behaviour of horned and polled sheep and cattle during export

The social and feeding behaviours of sheep and cattle segregated according to whether they had horns were investigated during live shipment, to determine the effects of mixing animals with and without horns within specification. Two voyages, one each of Merino sheep and Bos indicus-cross cattle, were monitored using video surveillance and retrospective analysis of footage from specific times to determine the number of behavioural interactions and feeding events within two pens each of polled, horned (up to one full curl in sheep or 12cm in cattle), and mixed polled and horned animals. Concurrently, shipboard personnel recorded behaviour, daily feed intake, daily injury, death and disease of these animals. There was no evidence from the video footage that mixing polled and horned animals within specification resulted in negative health or behaviour outcomes for these animals. This was also the conclusion from the real-time observations made by shipboard personnel, although there were some differences in absolute number of interactions recorded by the two methods. Further observational studies of similar design were conducted on 15 short haul cattle voyages with shipboard personnel recording behaviour, daily feed intake, injury and death of animals in the experimental pens. Eleven of these voyages yielded usable data for analysis, and there was no indication from the records of any difference between experimental pens

Behavioural assessment of the habituation of feral rangeland goats to an intensive farming system

There is increasing interest in methods for the habituation of feral rangeland goats to intensive farming conditions. We tested whether there were production performance and behavioural differences between groups of rangeland goats in an intensive farming system that were either exposed to a high degree of human interaction (HI, n=60) or low degree of human interaction (LI, n=60) over 3 weeks. In the HI group, a stockperson entered the pens twice daily and calmly walked amongst the goats for 20 mins. In the LI group, a stockperson only briefly entered the pens to check water/feed (daily/weekly). At the end of each week the goats were weighed and drafted into 12 subgroups of 10 animals (i.e. 6 sub-groups per treatment). Each sub-group was then tested for agonistic behaviour, avoidance of humans, and flight response. During the flight response test video footage was collected and later used for analysis using Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA). For QBA analysis, the videos of each group, taken each week, were shown in random order to 16 observers who used their own descriptive terms to score the groups' behavioural expression. There was a significant interaction between treatment and time on body mass (F3,174 =5.0; P< 0.01), agonistic behaviour (F3,12 =4.3; P< 0.05) and flight speed (F3,12 =3.9; P< 0.05), with the HI group having significantly higher average body mass (P< 0.05), fewer agonistic events (P< 0.05), and a slower flight speed (P< 0.05) than the LI group after the three weeks. Two main QBA dimensions of behavioural expression were identified by Generalised Procrustes Analysis. QBA dimension 1 scores differed between treatments (P< 0.05); HI goats scored higher on QBA dimension 1 (more 'calm/content') compared to LI goats (more 'agitated/scared'). QBA dimension 1 scores were significantly negatively correlated with the number of agonistic contacts (Rs =-0.62, P< 0.01), and flight speed (Rs =-0.79, P< 0.001), and significantly positively correlated with body mass (Rs =0.68, P <0.001) of the goats over the 3 weeks of the experiment. QBA dimension 2 scores were not significantly different between treatments or over time.Findings from this study support the hypothesis that production performance and behavioural measures can distinguish behavioural changes in rangeland goats that were likely a result of habituation to human interaction in an intensive feedlot

The sensitivity of QBA assessments of sheep behavioural expression to variations in visual or verbal information provided to observers

Qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) is based on observers’ ability to capture the dynamic complexity of an animal’s demeanour as it interacts with the environment, in terms such as tense, anxious or relaxed. Sensitivity to context is part of QBA’s integrative capacity and discriminatory power; however, when not properly managed it can also be a source of undesirable variability and bias. This study investigated the sensitivity of QBA to variations in the visual or verbal information provided to observers, using free-choice profiling (FCP) methodology. FCP allows observers to generate their own descriptive terms for animal demeanour, against which each animal’s expressions are quantified on a visual analogue scale. The resulting scores were analysed with Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA), generating two or more multi-variate dimensions of animal expression. Study 1 examined how 63 observers rated the same video clips of individual sheep during land transport, when these clips were interspersed with two different sets of video footage. Scores attributed to the sheep in the two viewing sessions correlated significantly (GPA dimension 1: r s=0.95, P<0.001, GPA dimension 2: r s=0.66, P=0.037) indicating that comparative rankings of animals on expressive dimensions were highly similar, however, their mean numerical scores on these dimensions had shifted (RM-ANOVA: Dim1: P<0.001, Dim2: P<0.001). Study 2 investigated the effect of being given different amounts of background information on two separate groups of observers assessing footage of 22 individual sheep in a behavioural demand facility. One group was given no contextual information regarding this facility, whereas the second group was told that animals were moving towards and away from a feeder (in view) to access feed. Scores attributed to individual sheep by the two observer groups correlated significantly (Dim1: r s=0.92, P<0.001, Dim2: r s=0.52, P=0.013). A number of descriptive terms were generated by both observer groups and used in similar ways, other terms were unique to each group. The group given additional information about the experimental facility scored the sheep’s behaviour as more ‘directed’ and ‘focused’ than observers who had not been told. Thus, in neither of the two studies did experimentally imposed variations in context alter the characterisations of animals relative to each other, but in Study 1 this did affect the mean numerical values underlying these characterisations, indicating a need for careful attention to the use of visual analogue scales

Qualitative behavioural assessment of the motivation for feed in sheep in response to altered body condition score

Qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) has been used to quantify the expressive behaviour of animals, and operant tests have been used to quantify measures of behavioural need. In this study we compared measures of behavioural expression and behaviour in operant tests. We examined the behavioural expression of pregnant ewes of body condition score (BCS) 2 and 3. The ewes were exposed to a feed motivation test in which they received a food reward. Pregnant ewes (48-70 days gestation) were assessed during a food motivation test after they had been maintained at BCS 3 (n ≤ 7) or given a decreasing plane of nutrition that resulted in slow loss of 1 BCS unit (over 10-12 weeks; n ≤ 7) or a fast loss of 1 BCS unit (over 4-6 weeks; n ≤ 7). The feed motivation test involved ewes having the opportunity to approach a food reward and then being moved a given distance away from the reward by an automatic gate; they could then subsequently return to the feeder. Continuous video footage of each ewe during one cycle of the gate (approaching and returning from the food reward) was shown in random order to 11 observers who used their own descriptive terms (free-choice profiling methodology; FCP) to score the animals using QBA. Data of the assessment were analysed with generalised Procrustes analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. The research group also quantified the feeding behaviour of sheep in the same clips. These behaviours included how sheep approached the feeder, behaviours exhibited at the feeder, and how sheep returned from the feeder. There was consensus amongst observers in terms of their assessment of behavioural expression of the sheep (P < 0.001). The GPA found three main dimensions of assessed behavioural expression in the sheep, which together explained 44% of the variation observed. GPA dimension 1 differed between the three treatment groups (P < 0.05): ewes maintained at BCS 3 scored low on GPA dimension 1 (i.e. were described as more calm/bored/comfortable) compared with ewes that had a slow declining BCS (described as more interested/anxious/excited). GPA dimension 2 scores were not significantly different between treatment groups. However, quantitative behaviours exhibited by sheep during the clips were correlated with qualitative behavioural assessments made by the observers. Animals that spent more time 'sniffing and looking for more feed' were attributed lower GPA 2 scores (described as more hungry/searching/excited) (P < 0.05), and animals that 'did not walk directly to the food reward (but stopped along the way)' were attributed significantly higher GPA 2 scores (more curious/intimidated/uneasy) (P < 0.01). GPA dimension 3 scores also did not differ between the treatment groups; however, sheep that had a higher number of feeding events during the entire 23-h feed motivation test were attributed lower GPA dimension 3 scores (they were described as more hungry/bold/interested) (P < 0.05), and sheep that consumed a larger amount of the feed reward were attributed higher GPA dimension 3 scores (more curious/concerned/reserved) (P < 0.05). We conclude that QBA is a valuable method of assessing sheep behavioural expression under the conditions tested, in that it provided an integrative characterisation of sheep behavioural expression that was in agreement with quantitative behavioural measures of feeding

Effect of prolonged exposure to continuous heat and humidity similar to long haul live export voyages in Merino wethers

This experiment investigated the physiological responses of Merino wethers (n = 12) to prolonged high heat and humidity similar to that experienced during long haul, live export voyages from Australia to the Middle East. Merino wethers were randomly assigned to individual pens in rooms with a controlled environment, and exposed to gradually increasing temperatures, and two exposures of 3–4 days of sustained high heat and humidity, up to a maximum of 31°C wet bulb temperature (37°C dry bulb and 67% relative humidity). There was 1 day at thermoneutral temperatures separating the heat exposures. The core temperatures and respiratory rates of Merino wethers increased during both heat exposures, with open-mouthed panting observed during both exposures. Plasma partial pressure carbon dioxide (pCO2) and bicarbonate concentration (HCO3–) decreased, and plasma pH increased during the second heat exposure. Both pCO2 and HCO3– returned to normal immediately following the heat exposures. Feed intake was maintained during the heat exposures. There were no large alterations in blood electrolyte concentrations attributable to the effects of the heat. The results show that Merino wethers experienced significant physiological changes during exposure to prolonged and continuous high heat and humidity, but maintained most aspects of homeostasis despite being hyperthermic and recovered quickly when conditions returned to thermoneutral